Intel: US sends B-52 bombers back to Middle East amid attacks by Iran-linked proxies
Following drone and missile strikes on Saudi Arabia this weekend, it is not clear that the Pentagon's deterrence tactic is paying off.
The United States sent a pair of nuclear-capable B-52 bombers across the Middle East on Sunday, renewing a show of force as attacks by Iran-linked groups in the region continue.
The Stratofortress bombers took off from Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota before linking up with aircraft from the Israeli, Saudi and Qatari air forces at different stages of the flight to “deter aggression and reassure [US] partners and allies” in the region, according to US Central Command (CENTCOM).
The round-trip sortie is the fourth this year, a sign of tactical continuity between the Trump and Biden administrations as both have sought to dissuade Tehran and its proxies from carrying out attacks in the region.
Such attacks picked up during the previous US administration, which took a hard line by abandoning the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran and replacing it with a campaign of economic sanctions in a failed bid to force Tehran to end its support for proxy militias throughout the region.
